How long will it be until I can navigate automated customer service calls visually?
My phone has a screen on it. I don’t want to listen carefully to your menu options, even if they have recently changed.

Very interesting scenario. I responded with an answer like this. What are your thoughts?

Ah, super practical question, Why not?

But technically, I think there are HUGE challenges, Even with sophisticated Computer Telephony Integrations in place, Voice based calls and kept separate from data transfer, hence using a smart phone to handle both voice and data (choices for you to choose from) is difficult, at least as of today.

So, the immediate options seem to be:

1. Pure voice (Current system which you described)
2. Pure data (Use a Website / PC to log your tickets)
3. Voice and data (iPhone / Android / Blackberry app where calls can be made and menu options can be ‘download’ed on the fly so that you can choose from there, instead of listening, use Voice only for talking, not for hearing / choosing)

Future option:

Make a voice call : get the menu options as a data back to your phone : Dynamic display : Choose : Speak / Act

On second thoughts, there are few phone apps which do this already, isn’t it? For example, the app used to query for balance in a prepaid account? If Phone companies can extend it to call centers too, it will be a good start!

Once the telephony system is there to support this, CRM systems can provide a much better navigation for phone users, depending on which device they are using

I’m sure many of us encounter memory loss incidents either at a social gathering, shopping where we see a familiar person. It takes us time to recollect who they are and where we have met them. In this process we either do not step forward to communicate with that person or even if we dare to confront, spur of moment we tend to forget their name or other personal details about them. This could either be a good one or land up being unpleasant if the person doesn’t remember you or vice versa.

In view of this, Evernote Corporation developed an application that allows smart phone users to capture and record information on their devices. How it works is very simple, May be the developers based the ever note after watching the movie ‘memento’, where in the main character has a short term memory loss and starts clicking pictures of people on his Polaroid to know whom he has to associate with and pens down how he is associated with the person.

This app (called “Evernote Hello” : http://www.evernote.com/hello/ ) is almost on similar lines, the only difference being that it is digitally saved and note could be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten ink note. Notes can also have file attachments. Notes can then be sorted into folders, tagged, annotated, edited, given comments, searched and exported as part of a notebook. The whole application as such enables one to maintain a very cordial relationship with another person that they encounter during a short period of time.

From a business perspective this application serves as a wonderful app to remember clients/customers/suppliers/vendors etc. It actually more or less brings out the professional side by even sending a mail after the initial encounter with the customer. It is like a business card confirmation that is sent across. When encountering your customer or client during non business hours there are chances of building an excellent rapport with the customer by recollecting their past encounter etc. This over a period of time acts as a catalyst for arriving at business proposals or even sharing information across organizations. This more or less like a personal CRM app for business users who can keep a record of people they meet on the move.

However there are certain limitations to the application, how many us actually make it a point to keep doing this over a period of time and keep asking people whom we meet to enter their information. What if the person is not so sociable and doesn’t like being photographed?

The other drawback is the automated mail that is sent when adding the person. It could actually disturb the person and could change his impression as it could sound too pushy and obnoxious. Additionally it has a limitation for the free version which is advertising supported, has limited storage of only 60 MB and has a usage meter and cannot be used offline.

But going with the numbers there are over 11 million users as of July 2011, this goes to show how useful the app is and also shows how well the app developers have researched their way to develop such an app realizing that most of us do tend to forget people that we meet in a short duration.